ERISA News

The SECURE 2.0 Act gives certain employers a general business tax credit for immediately including military spouses in their defined contribution plan.

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits and Security Administration (EBSA) recently released a proposed amendment to the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) to include a Self-Correction Component (SCC) for transactions eligible for correction under the program.

The IRS recently updated its Operational Compliance List identifying changes in qualification requirements and Internal Revenue Code section 403(b) requirements effective in 2022. The list does not include annual, monthly, or other periodic changes that routinely occur, but is updated periodically by the IRS to reflect new legislation and IRS guidance to help plan sponsors maintain operational compliance.

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is reopening the comment period for its proposed amendments to the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) and amendments to Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2002-51, as originally proposed in November 2022. In reopening the comment period that had originally closed January 20, 2023, EBSA is citing section 305 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 that provides for the expansion of the IRS’s Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS).

The IRS has released Announcement 2023-6, stating that it expects to issue opinion letters for pre-approved defined benefit plans that were filed with the IRS during the third remedial amendment cycle “on February 28, 2023, or, in some cases, as soon as possible thereafter.”

Effective February 1, 2022, the federal prime interest rate increased from 7.50 percent to 7.75 percent. The prime interest rate is largely determined by the federal funds rate, as set by the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

IRA/SEP/SIMPLE Key Priorities. 

Please note: These provisions may be prioritized differently based on your individual business needs. 

Defined Contribution Plan Key Priorities. 

Please note: These provisions may be prioritized differently based on your individual business needs. 

Defined Benefit/Cash Balance Plan Key Priorities.

Please note: These provisions may be prioritized differently based on your individual business needs. 

A final rule from the Department of Labor titled “Implement SECURE Act and Related Revisions to Employee Benefit Plan Annual Reporting on the Form 5500” has left the Office of Management and Budget.
 
According to a description of the rule, it is likely to include guidance on the implementation of Group of Plans reporting pursuant to Section 202 of the SECURE Act. The Department of Labor released certain form revisions last year but indicated that it was evaluating public comments on elements of the September 2021 proposal related to 1) Defined Contribution Group reporting under the SECURE Act and related audit issues, 2) new Schedule MEP (Multiple-Employer Retirement Plan Information)  reporting requirements, 3) financial improvements to the Schedule H, 4) changes in participant counts related to plan audit requirements, 5) reporting for multiple employer welfare arrangements that file Form M-1, and 6) questions on pension plan compliance.